Section: Research Organizations & Think Tanks about Ukraine

The unsolved year-old murder of a prominent journalist in Ukraine has called into question the country’s commitment to democracy and the rule of law. If Ukraine’s leaders are serious about deeper EU integration, they must uphold fundamental European principles, including the protection of journalists and the defense of press freedom....

Doug Bandow The Cold War finally and dramatically ended almost 30 years ago when the Berlin Wall fell, soon followed by the disintegration of the Soviet Union. But despite the election of Donald Trump, the U.S. and Russia have descended into what increasingly looks like a Little Cold War with Moscow’s decision to expel 755 U.S. diplomats....

The war in the Donbas shaped the Ukrainian army. It helped its soldiers gain awareness and motivation. It also forced the administration of the Ukrainian ministry of defence and the government to adapt the structure – for the first time since it was formed – to the real operational needs. …read more Source: Centre for Eastern Studies...

Since Russia’s interference in the 2016 U.S. election, many have warned that Putin will be back in 2018 and 2020. But the reality is that Russian influence operations never left. As former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper recently stated, the Kremlin is already beginning to “prep the battlefield” for the 2018 elections. But...

Russian soldiers after the seizure of Perevalne military base, Crimea, 9 March 2014, Wikipedia CCBESA Center Perspectives No. 549, August 2, 2017 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Western observers are often astonished by Russian military decision-making, which defies the principle of waiting for full knowledge of the enemy before acting. The Russian approach...

Civic organizations are warning that there can be no hope of real reform of the Supreme Court if the results announced by the High Qualification Commission of Judges for Ukraine’s first ever competition for 120 Supreme Court judges are accepted …read more Source: Kharkiv Human Rights Protection...

A so-called military court in the self-proclaimed ‘Luhansk people’s republic’ [LPR] has sentenced two Ukrainians to huge sentences for what it calls ‘state treason’. Since the alleged ‘treason’ involved spreading ‘negative information’ on the Internet, it seems likely that one of the two people is Edward Nedelyaev, a...

With the arrival of the Trump administration, we have turned a new page in our ongoing effort to protect the nation against threats to its security. The 2017 Aspen Security Forum gathered present and former top-level government officials from national security agencies as well as a host of industry leaders, experts, journalists, and concerned...

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – A few recent words from Jack Matlock who was U.S. ambassador to Moscow under presidents Reagan and Bush senior: “The Ukraine crisis is a product, in large part, of the policy of indefinite expansion of NATO to the east. If there had been no possibility of Ukraine ever becoming part of...

The items listed below represent potential emerging issues that our analysts are tracking. These can be long term or short term, but will be updated daily. If an item on our Watch List becomes critical, we will email you a full analysis explaining its significance. Each Saturday, we will follow up our daily Watch List for each week with our...